The Hockey News Archive
Pittsburgh Penguins superstar center Sidney Crosby is about to play in his 20th NHL season, and right now, all eyes are on what comes next for him.
The same can be said 20 years ago when the NHL was in the early stages of a season-long lockout, and a 17-year-old Crosby tore up the QMJHL.
In this cover story from The Hockey News’ Dec. 21, 2004, edition (Volume 58, Issue 17), senior writer Mike Brophy penned a terrific feature on Crosby as he played his final season with the Rimouski Oceanic.
(Here’s our regular reminder to you: for access to The Hockey News’ exclusive Archive, go to THN.com/Free and subscribe to the magazine.)
Related: Sidney Crosby ‘Pretty Optimistic’ He Will Sign A Contract Extension Before The Start Of The Season
Crosby’s all-around talents were what made him a generational prospect. In his final season with Rimouski, his all-around playmaking and play-finishing skills did incredible damage. He posted career-QMJHL highs in goals (66), assists (102) and points (168) in only 62 games.
He also excelled on the international stage prior to his NHL career. He generated two goals and five points in six games at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship and followed it up with six goals and nine points at the 2005 world juniors.
Crosby raved about his experience taking on the best of the best in his age group just weeks before winning gold at the 2005 world juniors.
“It is the best hockey experience I have ever had,” Crosby said of the 2004 World Juniors. “It was unreal. There is no group of players I have ever played with that could compare to that group. They were such fun guys.”
Here’s the full story:
CROSBY: THRILLS, DASH & YOUNG
Vol. 58, No. 17, Dec. 21, 2004
By Mike Brophy
RIMOUSKI, QUE. – Sidney Crosby emerges from an early team meeting on a frigid Saturday morning in Rimouski full of apologies.
“Too bad you had to come for that game,” says Crosby to a visitor the day after his team is upset 3-2 at home by the Shawinigan Cataractes. “I was a little too pumped up to play. Being off for so long, I had all this nervous energy built up inside me. That’s not the way I usually play. I just wasn’t myself.”
Crosby made his return to action against Shawinigan after sitting out a week with a sprained ankle, an injury that prevented him from playing two games with a QMJHL all-star team against a touring Russian team.
His own harshest critic, Crosby does not accept defeat easily and is having a hard time shaking the Shawinigan loss.
Nine out of 10 junior hockey players go to bed every night dreaming of playing the way Crosby played against Shawinigan. He didn’t score, his team didn’t win, but he was unquestionably the most dominant player on the ice. If Crosby’s ankle still bothers him, the kid who is sure to be the top pick in the next NHL entry draft – whenever it’s held – certainly doesn’t show it.
Crosby doesn’t start the game, but when he finally hits the ice all eyes are on him. He has a little Brett Hull in him in that he has the ability to disappear only to emerge as a scoring threat. The difference is, when Crosby emerges with the puck, he’s moving at Mach II speed.
That’s quite a feat for a guy who has two checkers draped all over him practically every time he’s on the ice.
There is a high price to be paid for being the best. At one point in the Shawinigan game, Crosby is jockeying for position at the side of the Cataractes net when an opponent puts his stick between his legs and lifts – hard.
Crosby reacts by cross-checking the player – once, twice, three times, four times. He gets the only penalty and is visibly upset as he enters the penalty box. Later in the game Crosby is speared by Francis Pare and he responds by cross-checking Pare to the ice.
Crosby sets up a goal to add to his league-leading point total and he has numerous chances to score-eight by his own count-that fall just short. In 25 shifts during the game, Crosby plays center and right wing and also mans the point on the power play. Although Rimouski’s coach, Doris Labonte, would like to see him shoot the puck more often, Crosby insists he does not have a pass-first mentality. “It depends on where I get the puck,” Crosby says. “If I’m in the slot, then I’m definitely going to look for the shot first. When I get the puck in other areas, though, I do look for the open man.”
Two nights later, Crosby scores a goal and sets up two others in a 9-3 home win over the P.E.I. Rocket.
If you have not had the pleasure of seeing Crosby play live, you can’t possibly have a full appreciation of his explosiveness and vision. Crosby’s teammates would be well-advised to have their sticks on the ice and ready to take a pass at all times because – no matter how out of the way you may think you are – Crosby will spot you and the puck will be headed your way. This kid makes passes that would make Adam Oates look on with envy.
When Crosby is in the lineup, games in Rimouski -a small town of about 50,000 located on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River four hours northeast of Quebec City – are an event. Though Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards both played in Rimouski before graduating to the NHL, neither generated the interest that Crosby has. Not even close.
“You ever been to Rimouski before?” asks Yannick Dumais, the Oceanic’s director of hockey operations.
Point taken.
Crosby led the QMJHL in scoring last season, netting 54 goals and 135 points in 59 games. He’s leading the league in scoring again in 2004-05, despite suffering a couple of nagging injuries – the sprained ankle and a bruised knee-with 23 goals and 69 points in 33 games.
But despite Crosby’s jaw-dropping numbers, it hasn’t been the dream season thus far that the Oceanic envisioned. (Through 37 games, Rimouski was sixth in the 16-team league with a 16-15-3-3 mark.) Many thought Crosby’s presence alone would be enough for the team to dominate the QMJHL, not quite fully understanding that, in spite of his individual greatness and potential, he is but one player in a team sport – and a 17-year-old player, at that.
“Maybe the expectations were too high,” Labonte says. “We were supposed to be alone in the standings and because we haven’t been, our fans are a little frustrated.”
That’s par for the course in junior hockey. Of course, there’s still more than half a season to go.
Coaching a major junior team is a chore at the best of times. Coaching a major junior team with a superstar, well, that’s a different kettle of fish.
You never see a backup goalie. Opposing team’s buildings are always filled to the brim. If you want to see the Oceanic play on the road, it often means buying tickets in a package with four other games-generally against teams you might not want to pay a dime to see.
Crosby will miss three QMJHL games while representing Canada at the World Junior Championship in North Dakota. Rimouski originally had another four road games on the schedule, but the host cities expressed concern about Crosby not being in the lineup and the games were rescheduled.
“Imagine,” Labonte says, “It is their best opportunity to beat us, without our best scorer, but they want the money first.”
Even when Rimouski plays at home, the opposition treats a regular season game like it’s the Memorial Cup final.
Crosby is champing at the bit to play for gold in his second WJC. Last year he became the youngest player ever to score a goal at the highly regarded tournament, but was disappointed when Canada fell short, losing to rival America in the gold medal game.
“It is the best hockey experience I have ever had,” Crosby says. “It was unreal. There is no group of players I have ever played with that could compare to that group. They were such fun guys. It’s just a bunch of guys who love to play hockey and have some fun. Every guy hangs his ego at the door when they join that team. It doesn’t matter what your job is anywhere else, when you go on that team you do what you have to do to win the gold.”
That being the case, with the gold medal on the line last season, coach Mario Durocher played Crosby just three shifts in the third period. It wasn’t easy for Crosby to sit there and watch the clock tick down, though he never in a million years would have complained.
“When you are on the bench you are watching the game and you want to go out there and contribute,” Crosby says.
“It wasn’t like we weren’t getting chances, because we were. I accepted that I was basically a third- or fourth-liner. I was 16 and wanted to do as much as I could when I was out there. In the third period it wasn’t as though I was sitting there thinking, ‘I want to be out there.’ I was just making sure I was ready for my next shift when it came. It’s not as though I was grumbling to myself because I wasn’t playing. My focus was to be sure I was ready if I was asked to go out.”
Yeah, he was just 16. He was also the Canadian Hockey League’s player of the year. Canadians should hope Brent Sutter, coach of this year’s WJC entry, doesn’t base ice time on the date appearing next to a player’s name on his birth certificate.
Although Crosby is a practical joker who finds humor in just about anything, he also is ultra-competitive and that side of his personality can show up anywhere at any time.
“We’ll be throwing a football and all-of-a-sudden he’ll make it into a best-of-7 competition to see who drops the ball,” says roommate Eric Neilson.
Everything Crosby does is just another step toward his goal of playing in the NHL. He is focused and determined beyond his years and when he was invited to skate with Los Angeles Kings rookies last summer at a prospect camp, it gave him an indication of the work that lies ahead before he reaches his ultimate goal.
Some wonder about his size-Crosby is listed at 5-foot-ll and 192 pounds-but he says that won’t be a factor.
“It’s not an issue; it never has been for me,” Crosby says. “I don’t think I’m hurting for size at all. If I don’t grow any more, then I have to work on my skill and my leg strength. But if you look around, a lot of smaller guys happen to be among the best-skilled guys in the NHL. It’s not a fluke.”
When you are highly skilled and determined to be the best – as Sidney Crosby is – fluke doesn’t even enter the equation.
The Hockey News Archive is a vault of more than 2,640 issues and more than 156,000 articles exclusively for subscribers, chronicling the complete history of The Hockey News from 1947 until today. Visit the archives at THN.com/archive and subscribe today at THN.com/free.
News Summary:
- Archive: All Eyes Are On Sidney Crosby's NHL Future, Just Like 20 Years Ago
- Check all news and articles from the latest NHL updates.